Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to Armenia to take part in ceremonies on April 24 marking the centenary of the mass killing of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.

The Kremlin officially announced Putin's trip on April 20.

It said that at the invitation of Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian, Putin will visit Yerevan on April 24 "to participate in commemoration ceremonies dedicated to the genocide of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire."

Russia is one of more than 20 countries that recognizes the deaths of some 1.5 million Armenians in the eastern stretches of ther Ottoman Empire during the World War I era as genocide.

Turkey objects to the word "genocide," contending that there was no planned Ottoman government effort to annihilate the Christian minority.

Other leaders expected to attend the April 24 ceremonies in Armenia include French President Francois Hollande.